Business stories connect customers to brands on a different level than traditional advertising. They make your company likable and trustworthy–two things that more than 83% of consumers say inspire customer loyalty.

But there are only so many hours in a day. You may not have the time or resources to put towards your company’s digital strategy on top of everything else.

Luckily, we’ve got a few quick and simple tips to help you tell your business story in a way that’ll both inspire loyalty for your brand and turn readers into paying customers.

Let’s jump right in.

Aspects of a Great Business Story

Your brand story is more than just a pitch or quick anecdote. It’s a collection of every element of your business, from your purpose and values to your company’s mission statement.

Even if you’re not a gifted storyteller, there are a number of storytelling tactics and tips that can make your business story more impactful, engaging, and shareable. And ultimately, more profitable.

A clear Objective

But the main component they all have in common is that they reveal something about your company. Something specific and intentional that you want your customers to know about your brand.

Ensure your stories have an objective from the beginning. It could be to show off your team’s problem-solving skills, a look at your mission statement in action, or how you accommodated a customer’s unique needs in a pinch.

Regardless of the story itself, make sure it’s doing something positive for your small business’ bigger image.

Authenticity

Authenticity is key for great business storytelling.

Be careful not to embellish the facts of your stories and always fact check against other sources for accuracy when you can. Even a small, unintentional inconsistency can cast doubt on your brand’s trust and authority. And bad reputations last.

But being genuine also applies to your tone. It’s more important for people to enjoy reading your story than it is to showcase your vocabulary. Stick to using language that’s conversational, easy to understand, and true to your brand.

Smart Descriptions

The only way for your audience to experience your story is if you put them there. So do it. Use sensory descriptions to help your audience see, hear, feel, touch, and even taste what’s happening.

Just be careful to weave them into your stories naturally. You want to engage your audience with the important details and leave the less interesting stuff out. And a list of descriptions isn’t all that exciting.

Consider how your descriptions serve your objective and let that guide what you decide to include or cut from your final drafts. If it doesn’t serve your objective, get it out of there.

Audience-conscious Writing

Your target audience is your target customer. So make sure you’re writing with them in mind.

Tell stories about your business that relate to what your target customer cares about and how you can help. Identify the questions and problems they have and use those to shape what you post, and take advantage of every opportunity to relate to your readers.

But different situations call for different strategies. It’s one thing to know how to tell your story one blog post at a time, but quite another to relay it to a potential investor, customer, or colleague on the fly.

How to Craft a Quick Business Story Pitch

Sometimes, you need to pitch your story in a minute or less. That’s just the speed of modern business.

That’s why it’s a good idea to write a pitch for your business story and practice it. If an unexpected opportunity arises, you’ll sound more confident to potential customers and keep yourself from rambling on.

What to Include

Your business does so much it’s hard to know what to include or leave out. But remember, this is a 60-second pitch–not an encyclopedic entry. Less is more.

Start with a little Brand Brainstorm. Jot down the most important attributes of your company, then narrow it down from there to just four or five key qualities. Another way to do this is to ask yourself what five words you want to be associated with your company.

This list will help you stay on brand no matter how unsure you might become. So keep your results handy as you write your pitch.

Below are the key aspects of your business story pitch. Try to answer each of these questions in two sentences or less:

What does your business do?

What problem does your business solve?

How is your product or service different from others?

Why should anyone care?

Stay on message by referring back to your brainstorming list when you get stuck. It may take several attempts and some reshuffling of key phrases to get your answers how you like them, but the effort will be worth it.

How to Format Your Pitch

Your first sentence should read a lot like a tweet (but with better spelling and grammar).

Try to write a succinct description of your product or service in less than 140 characters and see what you come up with. The character constraint will do wonders for helping you think outside the box and get straight to the point.

Likewise, get creative with your phrasing. Ensure your descriptions are catchy and memorable and stick with the direction you outlined in your Brand Brainstorm earlier.

But if you still feel like you might be over-stuffing your business story with information, remind yourself that you want your pitch to lead to questions. Questions allow your audience to take part in the discussion and give you a chance to talk about your business in a more organic way.

Also, keep in mind that your pitch will be spoken. So take any long, complex sentences and break them down into shorter ones that are easier to say. Use conjunctions like “and,” “but,” “so,” and “yet” to start your new sentences for a more conversational flow.

And practice, practice, practice! Get that pitch down to a minute and sound good doing it. No matter how many re-writes it takes.

The End of This Post, But the Beginning of Your Story

As a small business owner, nobody knows your company better than you. And now that you can write your business story as well as you can pitch it, be sure to optimize your copywriting for the modern attention span (which is now less than a goldfish’s!).

Or take the next step and join the Brand Story School, which is guaranteed to double your small business income in one year (and who wouldn’t want that?).